


Of Collars and Jedi

by soft_but_gremlin



Series: Whumptober 2020 [17]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-17
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:15:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27064000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soft_but_gremlin/pseuds/soft_but_gremlin
Summary: Obi-Wan Kenobi was well-known for not liking medics. Still, he didn't usuallyfightthem.(Whumptober day 17: "I did not see that coming")
Relationships: CT-6116 | Kix & Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker
Series: Whumptober 2020 [17]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1946629
Comments: 14
Kudos: 222





	Of Collars and Jedi

Obi-Wan Kenobi was well known for avoiding medics. But he didn’t usually  _ fight  _ them.

“Apologies, Kix,” Anakin said, wiping his brow after Kenobi was finally unconscious. “I didn’t see that coming. At all.”

“To be perfectly honest, sir, I don’t see how anyone could have seen that coming.

They’d been trying to put a neck brace on the half-conscious General, trying to keep him from kriffing up his spine before they managed to get him into a bacta tank.  He’d fought against the medics like he hadn’t been aware he was among people who wanted to help him. Force and everything. If Anakin hadn’t managed to drop him into a Force trance, Kix wasn’t sure what might have happened, and how badly the General might have hurt himself and others.

“I don’t know what happened,” Anakin said. “Obi-Wan’s  _ never _ like that.”

“Battle trauma, most likely,” Kix said quietly. “I’ll ask him about it when he’s out of the tank.”

“I’ll be with you,” Anakin said. “If he wakes up fighting, you’ll need someone who can hold him back.”

Kix frowned, but nodded. They wouldn’t be able to do anything if Kenobi used the Force on them again.

Kenobi stayed in the tank for three days before he was healthy enough to take out. Anakin had spent most of his time waiting outside the tank, watching and worrying. Finally, they drained him and put him on a cot in patients’ scrubs. Mindful of what happened last time, they removed the neck brace as soon as they had the all clear, while he was still under the influence of the sedatives.

After a while he started to wake up, slowly at first and then all at once as he remembered how to purge the sedative from his system. He bolted up—

—Only to be stopped halfway by Anakin. “Slow down, Obi-Wan,” Anakin said. “You’ve just spent the last few days in bacta, take it easy for a few minutes.”

“What happened?” Obi-Wan asked immediately.

“You were injured during the battle. Spinal injury. When we came to help, you fought us hard enough that you almost paralyzed yourself from the neck down, so don’t do that again.”

Obi-Wan gave him a puzzled frown, as if that didn’t line up with what he remembered. “I apologize for that,” he said.

“What even happened there?” Anakin asked. “I know you don’t like medics, but I know you’re polite enough to  _ tolerate _ them.”

“I truly cannot say,” Obi-Wan said. “I don’t remember it.”

“Then what’s the last thing you  _ do _ remember, sir?” Kix cut in.

Obi-Wan looked embarrassed. “I’m embarrassed to say it’s awfully hazy, but...I was...frightened, and I thought someone was doing their best to kidnap me. Again.”

“And what gave you that impression, sir?”

“Well someone was trying to put a collar on me. I know well enough what happens when someone tries to put a collar on a Jedi.”

“I think it goes beyond knowing,” Anakin said darkly. “The way you reacted indicated a  _ personal experience _ .”

There was a tense moment of silence, which Obi-Wan then tried to break with humor. “Ah, well, you know my track record with being kidnapped.”

“ _ Obi-Wan!" _

Obi-Wan deflated. In a more serious tone, he said, “I was a Force Sensitive child under the guardianship of a highly... _ memorable _ Jedi Master. There were many beings throughout my Padawancy who tried to use me as leverage against Qui-Gon, and yes, some of them used collars of various means to try and keep me under control. I was...not the most obedient child, especially with kidnappers.”

“Why did you never tell me?” Anakin asked.

“Well believe it or not, they’re not exactly memories that I like to dwell on,” Obi-Wan said dryly. “Frankly they’re not even the most exciting kidnappings I’ve been a part of. And...they’re in the past, Anakin. I do my best to focus on the here and now.”

Kix frowned. Kenobi wasn’t lying—he never lied to Anakin. But his past clearly affected his present, even if he wasn’t aware of it.

Internally, he sighed. He couldn’t recommend Obi-Wan to a mind-healer without forcing him off active-duty, and that wasn’t something they could afford right now. But he’d make a note in Kenobi’s file, so any other medics who had to deal with them knew about this issue. He would protect his vode, and he’d do his best to prevent any further trauma to Kenobi until they could win this war.


End file.
